What is Distribution?

Distribution

What part of the supply chain is distribution?

Distribution is the third part of the supply chain.

What is distribution often referred to as?

 Distribution is also referred to as 'Invisible art'

What does 'vertical integration' mean when discussing distribution?

Vertical integration is where three stages are seen as one larger process.

Why isn't 'vertical integration' so common in the independent sector?

Producers have no formal connections with exhibitors and producers need exhibitors to promote and show the film it its best possible way.

What three stages are involved in the independent sector?  

The three stages involved are licensing, marketing and logistics.

Licensing

What is licensing? 

Licensing is the process that the distributer of the film would go through to be able to legally show the film to the public. 

What are the two levels of licensing? 

International, marketing the film across the world and local, releasing the film in just one particular country.

What is the advantage of being a major US studio? 

They have their own distribution offices in all of the major territories already. 

What three different types of rights can you acquire on a local level? 

Theatrical rights, video rights, video and TV rights. 

What are royalties? 

Something that the distributor pays to the producer out of the profits that the film generates. 

What is the most effective way to increase interest in a film?

A theatrical opening. 

How long does it take for a film to reach 'free to air' TV? 

It takes two years for a film to reach 'free to air' TV.

Marketing

What are the two key questions surrounding the marketing of a film?

The two key questions are 'When?' and 'How?'

What day are films typically released on?

Films are typically released on Fridays.

What will a distributor look at before releasing a film on a Friday?

To ensure there are only a few other films which are released on Fridays.

What is a 'light' week in terms of distribution?

It will ensure that there will be both screen space and adequate review column inches in the press allocated to any potential release.

What does it mean to 'position' a film distinctively?

It will be positioned distinctively and a void a release date occupied by other films with similar traits, such as story, subject, country of origin, etc.

Why has this become increasingly difficult in the UK?

It has become increasingly difficult, as the release schedule has regularly featured over 10 new releases in a week.

What are P&A?

Are the nuts and bolts of marketing and distributing films, and its known as Prints and Advertising.

How much can P&A cost?

Its the bulk of the distributor's investment, after paying the initial fee for rights, and can range from less than £1,000 to over £1 million for the release of a film in the UK.

Marketing - Prints and adverts

Typically how many prints will a specialised film have?
Specialised films will often have less than 10 prints, with them 'toured' over a 6 month period to all parts of the UK.

How many will mainstream films have?
Commercial mainstream films however, will often open on over 200 prints. These simultaneously screen in all major UK towns and cities.

What is a key factor in developing the profile of a film?
For most films, favourable press response is a key factor in developing the profile of a film. 

How else can awareness of a film be raised?
Awareness of a film can also be raised by posters, advertising campaigns (e.g magazines and newspapers), and press campaigns (e.g interviews.)

Why is distribution in the UK seen as risky?
Distribution in the UK is seen as risky compared to other countries because the cost of print advertising is comparatively high.

Why are companies looking towards viral marketing?
Companies are looking towards viral marketing in order to extend the reach of advertising and develop more effective communication with audiences at a lower cost. 

What are the benefits of a 'talent visit'?
The benefit of a talent visit is that the director and/or lead actors win significant editorial coverage to support a release. It makes the volume of coverage far outweigh the cost of talent visits.

Logistics

In the pre digital film age what was a distributor responsible for? 

Before film became mostly digital, a distributor would arrange the transportation of the film to cinemas and theatres, the tapes, videos or DVDs to shops and ensure that this whole process is as efficient as possible.

How much does a 35mm print typically cost? 

Each 35mm print costs around £1000 so handling it needs to be done safely. If the film has subtitles than it may cost as much as twice this.

How many reals is a typical feature print? 

Within the UK specifically, feature prints are shortened so that they can be easily transported. They are usually around 20 minutes long and an entire feature film would require 5-6 of them.

Why do 35mm prints get damaged? The simple answer to this question is that 35mm prints get damaged from repetitive use as they are moved around lots of cinemas and played through many times.

Where are prints stored? 

The UK's central print warehouse which is located in West London.

How long did a theatrical release used to last? 

Originally, the distributor would run two different releases, the first of which would last for around 6 months, trying to reach optimum coverage until the prints are essentially destroyed after this period. Any remaining prints are then used in second-run which lasts for the rest of the film's licensed period.

Digital Distribution

When did digital distribution begin in the UK?

It began in 2005

Name two advantages of digital distribution

Easy to replicate and cost effective.

Which countries adopted digital distribution early and why?

China and Brazil.

How many screens were digital in 2005 and how many are now?

112 to 192 screens.

Why has digital distribution radically altered the operating model of distributors?

The comparatively low cost of film copies and additional logistical effectiveness of digital distribution provide the distributor with greater flexibility.

What has happened to the typical release period for a film?

Reduced 3-6 months to 1-3 months.

What is a loss leader and why are companies using the Cinema as a potential loss leader?
A loss leader is a product sold as a loss which attracts customers, and Cinema's are used as loss leaders so customers will buy DVDs.

June 2010 essay question - decoding

What significance does the continuing development of digital media technology have for media institutions and audiences?

TOPIC - Film Industry - media institutions and audiences
ASPECT - Digital Media
               - Computers: editing - Mad Max
                                     CGI - Ex Machina
                                         filming mad max
               - Distribution: Download - Netflix - illegal downloads
                                                       - DVD, Blu-Ray - free download - CHEAPER - consumer                                                                    provider
               - Marketing: YouTube, social media, viral marketing
VIEWPOINT - developing and improving
INSTRUCTION - Talk about the significance

June 2010 essay question - answered

What significance does the continuing development of digital media technology have for media institutions and audiences?

The continuing development of digital media technology has a huge significance on media institutions and audiences. The film industry is constantly changing and adapting in order to find new ways to distribute their product.

During the production of films, digital technology has been becoming more advanced and widely used by filmmakers. Camera technology is constantly developing into better quality filming, and a wider variety of forms it can be viewed in. Mad Max can provide multiple examples of this development as it was originally planned to be filmed in 3D. Had the equipment not been too big to fit in the War Rig, this is how the film would have been carried out. 3D is a development of technology advancement as films never used to be able to be filmed in 3D. One of the more advanced pieces of camera equipment that was used in this film was an Edge Arm. This camera allowed filming on a 360 degree rotation so that a scene could be filmed in a more flowed way, and could capture more details. It also makes it easier for audiences to follow. An edge arm is used in the scene in which it shows a close up of Max tied to the front of Nux's car, then pans over to the Nux, driving the car, then to a long shot of Nux and his friend and finally, panning out to the War Rig. A Phantom camera was also used in the filming of the movie, which allows 300 frames to be taken per second, whereas non-digital cameras were only able to take 60 frames per second. This results in much more detailed and better quality footage, which is a bonus for the audience as it means they will get a better feel for the movie. Mechanical cameras would have also been unable to be filmed in the desert as the dust and sand would have just broken the lenses. So as far as filming Mad Max goes, it would not have even been able to be filmed without digital media technology.

Another advancement of digital media technology is the fact that films can now be conducted on hard rives. This is very beneficial for media institutions as it means that scenes can be filmed for longer and they can get closer to the action. Ex Machina used this to their advantage a lot as some of the scenes that they filmed were up to 10 minutes long. This is because they were mainly dialogue and little action or even movement, so didn't need to take short recordings to make sure everything was in the right place for editing in post-production. So using a hard rive cut down time and, as they had to film everything twice for the rota scoping in post production, a lot of money. This is because mechanical filming cost £1000 for every roll of film, so would have doubled.

Post production has seen massive improvements in digital media technology which becomes obvious to an audience when looking at the quality of graphics and visual effects in a film say 20 years ago in comparison to more recent films within the last 5 or 10 years. Computers play a big part in this change and are being increasingly used in the film industry to make the film appear much more exciting during the post-production stage, in editing and CGI. Ex Machina uses computers to create the image of Ava's (the artificial intelligence robot) robotic body. They did this by rota scoping. This is the process of filming the scene once with the character present and once without, so they could create a transparent effect for the body of Alicia Vikander. Mad Max took advantage of this advanced digital technology to create the massive dust storm by Eric Whipp, the visual effects artist. They shot everything in the day then Whipp created the graphic style for the films day and night scenes with detailed sky replacements. A green screen technique was also used for Furiosa's robotic arm. This helped Charlize Theron as she didn't have to wear a mechanical arm through filming that would have been uncomfortable and restricting.

The development of digital media technology has also impacted on the marketing of films, especially in the viral marketing area. Viral marketing is a technique that is free and spreads via the internet and social media. Ex Machina relied heavily on viral marketing resulting in them paying very little for advertising. For example they created a website called avasessions.com, in which you could talk to Ava and have a portrait drawn for you by her. They also created a Tinder account at SXSW, of actress Alicia Vikander, calling her Ava leading the users of the app to believe she was real. They were then directed to the Instagram account that promoted the film. This method had not been done before as dating apps such as Tinder were only recently created. 

The development of social media helps the marketing of films through synergy. For example, the new Batman vs Superman teaser trailer which managed to reach 9 million views on only the second day of its release on YouTube. A person on social media network Twitter managed to leak the trailer a day before its release and was retweeted by other people to create a viral marketing effect. IMAX twitter page re-tweeted it to their millions of followers increasing awareness, therefore IMAX and social media combined to create synergy. 10 years ago this would not have been possible as these social media sites did not exist, showing that the development of digital media technology has a massive significance for media institutions when marketing a film. Mad Max Fury Road spent $7 million on TV adverts alone, without marketing their film it may not have made so much at box office. When the first Mad Max film was made, in 1979, TVs were much less advanced and so the quality was very poor. Now, a TV is a much more common thing to have in a home and most homes will own one meaning that the adverts spread worldwide and are in much better quality. Development of digital media technology has also contributed in billboards and posters as Photoshop has recently been introduced to manipulate pictures into looking more exciting and intriguing to the audience.

Distribution of films have also changed significantly over the years as we are now able to watch films again and again on DVD. Even more recently developed, we now have the option of watching them on Blu-ray, increasing the potential buys for the film. With certain DVDs they give free downloads so that the buyer can watch it on mobile devices at any time, not only does this make it better for the buyer but it is cheaper for the consumer provider. Not only that but we can now watch movies online or on TV from the creation of Netflix. Netflix lowers the high rates of illegal download of films by charging only a small amount of money a month for thousands of reliable films. However, websites such as Putlocker still pose as a problem as films can be streamed for free. 

Overall from the aspects i have covered I can see that the development of digital media technology has a great significance on both media institutions and audiences.

Class and Status

What do we stereotype to each class?

Upper Class:

• Rich/wealthy
• Well educated - often private (e.g boarding school)
• Posh accent
• Polo
• Horse riding - owns their own horse(s)
• Spoilt/snobby
• Expensive possessions
• Private property
• Read the Times/Telegraph
•  Hunting and shooting
• Expensive holidays abroad

Middle Class:

• Respectable jobs - law/army/doctor/clergy
• Semi-detached or detached houses
• Multiple cars
• Branded clothing
• pet - dog/cat/fish etc
• The Mail/The Gaurdian
• Watch BBC/channel four

Working Class:

• Manual Labour jobs e.g. builder
• Little money
• Poor clothing
• Live on benefits - council housing or rented house
• The Sun newspaper
• One car
• 'Chav'

Upper Class

 Atlantis

Atlantis shows a clear difference between class and status through a number of stereotypes. The upper class (Royals) are dressed in formal attire with better materials such as silk and velvet. They also speak posher and have much better posture than the 'town folk'.

Downton Abbey

Lady Grantham- She is the stereotypic upper class Lady. She owns Downton Abbey and has never had to work in her life because she comes from wealth. She speaks with a posh accent, dresses in formal attire for everyday wear, and looks down on lower class people. Her wealth means that she is not affected by the war going on around them and does not have to ration unlike the lower class.

Middle Class

Doctor Who

Clara Oswald - The Doctors current female 'apprentice' who lives in London. She lives in a semi-detached house, is a school teacher, and has a smart-casual attire. These factors are all often associated with the stereotypical middle class person.

Sherlock Holmes

John Watson - Works with detective Sherlock Holmes. We can see that he is middle class because of his attire and accent, which are commonly associated with the stereotypical middle class person. In the recent series we get a glimpse of his house that he shares with his wife Mary. It is a nice sized house that is not too big or too small. His family can also give an insight to his class as he has a wife and a child on the way. This sized family is more related to the middle class as lower class families are often though to be quite big.

Lower Class

Misfits

Kelly - Kelly shows a clear stereotype of the lower class for many reasons. She is doing community service showing that she has committed crime, she lives on benefits in a council house and has a strong 'chavy' accent consisting of slang and swear words, which are all stereotyped to the lower class people.

Prison Break

T-Bag - This character from prison break is clearly lower class because he says that his dad sexually assaulted his disabled sister; crimes like this are often stereotyped towards the lower class. He is very scruffy and often results to violence when he doesn't get what he wants. He is a rapist which shows he has no morals. He does not look after himself or others in anyway, he also has no money which is another stereotype of lower class people.

Improving My Essay - Mr Smith

"Successful media products depend as much upon marketing and distribution to a specific audience as they do upon good production practices"

To what extent would you agree with this statement, within the media area you have studied?

I believe that for a film to succeed it must make a profit and appeal to the majority, if not all, of the four quadrant. The two films that I will be using for evidence to prove this statement is either right or wrong are Ex Machina and Mad Max: Fury Road. Ex Machina is a British sci-fi film about a robot that has been programmed to have feelings and a conscience, and Mad Max: Fury Road is a Hollywood Blockbuster that consists of a massive car chase in a desert. These two extremely different films that were similarly successful should show why I ultimately agree with the above statement.

First of all, the production practices play a very important part to the success of a film, e.g the actors, script, cameras and director, as it is what brings the film together. Mad Max had many beneficial factors in this area, one of which was having a famous actor (Tom Hardy) playing the main character. Having this often encourages 'fans' to go to see the movie in both American and British cinemas. The director, George Miller, will also have helped the film's success because of his good reputation from previous films he has directed. Having the same director for previous Mad Max films would have given hope to audiences that the recent one to be as successful, enjoyable and action filled as the others. Another factor that would have contributed to the success of the film is its genre; action films are one of, if not the most, popular film genres in the industry on a global scale and the constant action in the film would have appealed greatly to a worldwide audience, as proven from a recent survey showing that 61% of people said their favourite genre was action/adventure. As the film is almost all action with little dialogue it could be possible that the audience it attracts would be mainstream as they would have to have a strong liking for action to enjoy this film. During one of the car chase shots an Edge Arm camera is used. These cameras rotate 360 degrees, allowing it to move in all directions. This results in more detailed action and smoothly flowing shots. A good example of this is at the start of the car chase when we see Max tied to the front of the car, it then moves across to the War Boy, then up to his friend, and then pans out to show the war rig.

Ex Machina's production practices were significantly different to those of Mad Max's, and can be seen as a bit less impressive. One of the major differences is that there is very little action involved, making its success surprising as the action genre is dominant in the film industry. Another negative of the production practices of Ex Machina is that there are no big names involved unlike Mad Max which has Tom hardy. Although, it could be argued that Oscar Isaac and Domhnall Gleeson will be appearing in the upcoming Star Wars film 'The Force Awakens' in December 2015 and may be recognised from that. The script could also be critisised as it is heavily dialogued, for example when Caleb and Ava are having conversations and they are just sitting talking to each other, with little movement in the scene. This factor would appeal more to older audiences as they tend to like less action-based films. As this is the most common film goer type it could provide a reason to the film's success. The director, Alex Garland, is well respected due to his successful writing of The Beach and 28 Days Later, even though Ex Machina was his first time directing.This could have helped viewer ratings as fans of Garland would have been keen to see his on screen work instead of just written.

When marketing Mad Max, the team decided to stick to the traditional root of using posters and TV adverts. Due to its big budget for being a Hollywood Blockbuster, it ended up spending $7 million on TV advertising and $43.7 million on advertising altogether, engaging all audiences when watching regular TV. Having a large budget will have also helped marketing as films like this are often mentioned on the news, building up recognition in various countries. As quoted from the YouTube video 'Transformers 3 and the truth about Blockbusters, "If you spend enough money and make it newsworthy, it will make its money back because if you spend that much money your film becomes an event the film becomes an event A production practice that aided the marketing of the film was the stunts performed. For example, when the pole cats are seen approaching the War Rig in the later half of the film, pictures would have been taken and sent viral via Twitter and Instagram, creating viral marketing.

Ex Machina took a very different approach to the marketing of the film. One of these was done with the online website avasessions.com in which the audience got to briefly speak to Ava, the robot with artificial intelligence seen in the film, before having a sketch drawn of them. This would have highly appealed to their target audience of sci-fi finatics. This technique would have easily attracted this audience into seeing the movie as it leaves them with a curiosity of how she is presented in it. A similar abstract viral technique was done by creating a fake Tinder account of Ava at SXSW, which then led an Instagram account advertising the film. This can also be known as digital ideas, which relate to popular social network sites like Instagram, Facebook etc. As they are used universally this is a very smart way to reach reach out to all audiences. Although this account was clever and sneaky, it did cause moral issues to arise. One man even said that it 'toyed with his emotions so hard.' In contrast to Mad Max, Ex Machina spent very little on the marketing of the film, which could have allowed for a larger chance for profit, or in another view a loss of profit through the chance of not having raised enough recognition to audiences. 

The distribution of Mad Max and Ex Machina were also very different. Mad Max was released in May 2015 and was distributed by Warner Bros. This would have helped with the film's success as Warner Bros. have a very good reputation and hold 19.7% of the US/Canadian market share in the film industry, which is the biggest percentage of all the 'Big Six' companies. Mad Max went for wide release and launched the film into  cinemas on IMAX screens. Worldwide the film grossed over $375 million. The film was originally planned to be filmed and released in 3D, however after facing problems of fitting the recording equipment into the War Rig they decided to film in 2D and digitally remaster it in IMAX 3D instead. This would have been beneficial to the success of the film anyway, as the number of 3D viewings after started to decrease. 

Distributed by Universal Studios, Ex Machina was released on January 21st 2015 onto only 4 cinema screens. It then gradually increased the number of screens it was being viewed on until it reached 2000. It did this because it 'piggy backed' the most recent Avengers film: Age of Ultron, as that was released at a very similar time and dominated cinema screens. This technique saved them money that they were guaranteed to have lost if having used wide release when releasing at the same time as the Avengers. Instead, people went to see the film more as the number of screens increased and the number of screens the Avengers film decreased, therefore increasing its success. The film managed to gross over $36 million dollars worldwide. 

The evidence shown from these two very different films gives the summary that overall, Mad Max had higher numbers of positive production practises than Ex Machina, but Ex Machina's genius marketing techniques beat Mad Max's traditional root by far. The fact that both films succeeded in winning awards and gaining profit is the reason that I agree that successful media products depend as much upon marketing and distribution to a specific audience as they do upon good production practises. I think that over the next few years the cinemas and the film industry will become increasingly dominated by action films based on the notion of the films that are to be released within the next 5 years, e.g there is a plan to release 50 marvel films in this period of time. However, because action genres are already popular, I believe that this will cause people to get bored the more that they start to 'take over' and will gradually lean towards other genres. This means that marketing will have to be more extravigant and unique to try and grasp the audiences attention if creating an action movie in order to be successful.